At an international conference in Kyiv today, a large number of countries pledged funding for the containment of the Chernobyl site. State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry, Jürgen Becker, said that Germany intended to provide an additional sum amounting to 10.6 percent of the total contributions by the G7 countries and the European Commission. On the 25th anniversary of the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Becker confirmed the solidarity with Ukraine and the people affected by the disaster.
There is still a shortfall of 740 million euros in the funds needed for the two major projects in Chernobyl: a second New Safe Confinement (NSC) around the sarcophagus and the construction of an interim storage facility for spent fuel elements. The aim of the pledging conference was to close this gap as much as possible. The actual amount of the German contribution, which is subject to the approval of the Budget Committee and which will be spread over several years, is based on the allocation key for Germany agreed under the burden sharing arrangement between the G7 countries and the EU Commission. This is 10.6 percent of the total contributions of up to 400 million euros. Germany's share could be up to 42.4 million euros.
The conference participants expressed their confidence and expectation that the projects at the Chernobyl reactor site can be successfully completed as quickly as possible, that is by the end of 2015.